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2030 Corvette-style sportscar woodmanben

As car technology advances, autonomy and electric powertrains will become commonplace. My 2030 Chevy idea is to have a car for the people that still love to drive in a world of self-controlled cars. Self-driving could be toggled on or off based on how the driver is feeling. The car will be electric, giving it a powerful acceleration and a low center of mass (battery will be on bottom). The exterior will appeal to car enthusiasts with sleek proportions, and the interior will have everything a car from 2030 should have (i.e. touch screens and a heads up display). I've attached some sketches I've done so far (generally newer work in front), and I'll continue to add more as I get ideas and change things.

Comments on this project

Nice sketches! Your use of marker as a quick way to show form is a great technique which will allow you to create well defined sketches quickly. Electrification of the sports car definitely has merit. As you sketch keep in mind how the removal of the traditional combustion engine and traditional grille openings needed for cooling, plus your addition of elements like solar panels allows for fresh new car proportions and design elements previously not possible in the past with the internal combustion engine. Utilize your quick technique to generate lots of ideations around this and you will create some amazing new car designs. Good luck! Keep the sketches coming!

woodmanben
in reply to
Daniel Schmeckpeper
14 December 2016 20:49:50

Thanks for your input. I will sketch some more ideas (especially while I have more free time over the holidays) and try to implement more futuristic design elements into my concept.

Davit
16 December 2016 07:35:21

Your shading and marker techniques are great!

FlaviusC
16 December 2016 21:13:39

It'd be cool to see some interior sketches

woodmanben
in reply to
FlaviusC
17 December 2016 19:21:41

I agree. I'll get to work on those soon.

FlaviusC
in reply to
woodmanben
16 January 2017 00:30:07

Great interior sketch! Its great to see the placement from the exterior for a more thought out concept.

I love the new sketches! You are definitely having a lot of fun when you sketch. I see a lot of passion in them. They are also feeling much more like a Chevrolet. I also really like your new pencil sketches of vehicle fronts. They are even fresher designs! Great improvement. Keep it up.

woodmanben
in reply to
Daniel Schmeckpeper
04 January 2017 20:51:17

Thank you! I am having a lot of fun while I sketch and experiment with ideas. I'll continue posting ideas and new drawings as I refine the concept.

AlbaddawiA
04 January 2017 14:25:47

Your sketches are very detailed and your technique for shadows is very cool. May I suggest a tweaking the body a little bit? To me it looks similar to another car brand.

woodmanben
in reply to
AlbaddawiA
04 January 2017 21:10:22

Thanks for letting me know. I'm taking inspiration from a lot of different sources so it makes sense they'd come up in the design. However, I do want to create something new and not yet seen so I'll think of that with my next drawings.

Austin S
12 January 2017 01:23:11

Great sketches dude! You have a really great way of showing your ideas, and a very industrial look to the sketches which I admire. Keep up the great work!

woodmanben
in reply to
Austin S
12 January 2017 20:02:32

Thank you! I've seen some of your work and it looks awesome. You are very talented, particularly with rendering and making your drawings as photo realistic as possible.

Katie.Fromm
18 January 2017 04:03:02

I like the variety in your sketches; it really shows your thought and design process well. Also love your headlight and taillight design! They look very modern and like something I would certainly expect to see from Chevy in the next decade!

woodmanben
in reply to
Katie.Fromm
19 January 2017 20:08:18

Thanks for your feedback! I'm glad my designs are looking more like the Chevrolet brand.

HDKdesigner
19 January 2017 04:06:03

I've always liked sketching styles like yours; bold, a little messy, but very expressive. The one thing I did notice from your work is that you seem to make your car a lot less wide when you sketch it in perspective that in the front views. You might want to try making some overlays and experiment with different widths until you find the sweet spot. Right now your sketches in perspective have sedan-like proportions, but based on your other sketches, I'm going to assume that you want something with proportions similar to a corvette.

woodmanben
in reply to
HDKdesigner
19 January 2017 20:13:21

I think you've hit the nail on the head. I agree that some of the proportions were looking off... not sporty enough. I'm going to try some more sketches and see if I can find the right width. Thanks for your help!

HDKdesigner
in reply to
woodmanben
20 January 2017 20:29:42

Your sketch from 1/19 has much better proportions, but I still think you might be able to push it further width-wise. It's definitely a sports car now instead of a sedan, but it might look even better with concept car proportions rather than production sports car proportions. You might also want to consider taking an extra 20 seconds or so on each wheel so they are as polished and detailed as the rest of your sketch. Wheels can be annoying to sketch, but they can add a lot to a sketch, or take away from it if neglected.

woodmanben
in reply to
HDKdesigner
21 January 2017 01:07:27

I've lengthened the width and detailed the wheels a bit more on my newest sketch, and I think it's really helping. Thanks again for taking the time to help me!

HDKdesigner
in reply to
woodmanben
21 January 2017 03:08:13

No problem! I think the new proportions have made a big improvement. There a just a few other small things that I think might help you out even more and they should be easy fixes. Unless you are trying to add a more utilitarian aspect to the car, reducing the ride height will definitely make it more sporty looking. Since it is just a sketch and doesn't actually have to drive over anything, you might as well give it zero ride height. This one might be more subjective, so take it as seriously as you like. Another small thing I noticed is that the side window on your front 3/4 sketch looks nearly vertical. Try giving it some more angle like you already have on the rear 3/4 sketch. The horizontal lines on the back end of your rear 3/4 sketch don't quite line up and extend to the same vanishing point, specifically the rear diffuser. You might be surprised how much of a difference drawing in the tire sidewall makes. It only takes one more ellipse per wheel, so it's worth the effort. Lastly, the rear view mirror on the far side of the car is higher up than the mirror on the near side. I just want to clarify though, your work is genuinely very good even though I might sound like I'm nitpicking your sketches.

woodmanben
in reply to
HDKdesigner
22 January 2017 01:31:36

I agree that the lines on the rear are a bit of. I noticed that but couldn't fix it because it's pen. Same goes for the mirror... the moment I drew it I regretted it. However I didn't think much about the window being too vertical until you mentioned it. I will try angle it more inward on my next sketches, along with lowering ride height.

David Park
19 January 2017 23:58:18

nice sketches

MasonTRoss
25 January 2017 04:33:22

Awesome sketches here! I really liked the proportions on some of your most recent drawings and I think they fit the overall shape very well, but I personally preferred your earlier concepts for the front shape. Although the more recent drawings show more detail, the nose seemed to have a less aggressive shape and less design elements overall. Other than that, keep up the great work man, its looking good.

woodmanben
in reply to
MasonTRoss
25 January 2017 21:11:04

Thanks! I think you're right in saying that the nose should be more aggressive. I've put that idea into my newest marker sketch. I'm having some technical difficulties right now where I can't upload images, but I'll post it as soon as I can.

Ben, I love you're sketches! Congratulations on making it to the final stage!

I'm coming in with a fresh eye, and the thing that struck me immediately as a key stand-out, was your ability to illustrate your ideation process. Having that skill is extremely valuable, especially as the industry moves to a more global setting, and you aren't always able to present your work in-person. Your ideation pages from mid-December are incredible. I'd suggest circling back to those and making those a key component to your final push.

Try to make sure you have captured your key ideas in your final designs. Call-outs are fine (they're awesome!), but what we love to see happen as professionals, is those ideas influencing the final aesthetic - yes, you are telling me that it does something, but can I actually see that? How does that feature help make this car look unique? If I took away those callouts, could I still tell that there was something different about this car.....??

For example: You have a few cool ideas about folding out solar mats, and unique storage solutions forward of the occupants. Where is this mat stored when it's not in use? Can that lead to some sort of cool looking bin on the exterior or interior? How about this storage you called out (where the traditional combustion engine usually sits)......how do you access it? is there some sort of cool release handle for the lid(s) that you can incorporate into the exterior? Does removing that engine do anything for the interior, and how the driver sits/sees out? You want the final judges to look at your sketches and see something unique that will drawn them into your design story.

These are just a few ideas. I don't want you to flip your whole design upside down at this point. At the end of the day, it still needs to look like a Vette, right!? :) And this definitely does. I just think you need to close a few loops in your design story. Dan alluded to this earlier. It was great advice.

While your doing your final sketches, also keep some of the previous suggestions in mind. It was suggested that your sketches made the car look too narrow. That advice was spot-on. Corvettes need to look low and wide. (You can also over-do that, so be careful!) I'd also suggest some more contrast in your sketches - I think you're definitely up to the challenge. Your ideation sketches had great use of marker, and some of your latest sketches have great use of pen/pencil. I think you need to seal the deal with combining them both, and maybe tightening the final batch up just *a little* bit. (Don't squeeze the life out of 'em!)

Finally, I think you need to illustrate who this car is for. What adventures are they going on? What inspires them? What inspires you? A simple page or two of images and maybe just some brief verbiage (maybe pull thoughts from your thesis statement in the beginning) is all it will take to sort of set the mood.

Stay in touch. I'll be checking in.

-Steve

woodmanben
in reply to
Steve McCabe
26 January 2017 04:07:50

Thank you for providing such detailed and helpful feedback!

I've done some more work and would love to post it, however, I'm unable to do so at the moment due to technical difficulties. Hopefully they will be resolved soon and I can show what I've been up to.

In the meantime, I'll continue to work with your critiques in mind. I'm glad you like the ideation sketches with all the call-outs. I really enjoy making them as I can mention errors that I've noticed myself and get thoughts down on paper quickly. I've also started writing up a proposal type thing about the target market and features of the car.

I'm eager to continue working and developing my skills as an automotive designer. Thanks again for the great feedback!

Jinho So
26 January 2017 13:22:16

I truly love your design and they are all great- also, I can see clear concept of your designs. However, I would give more futuristic taste of your design, especially headlamps, and the shape of the front bumper a bit since you're working on 2030. Awesome job so far and keep up your work!

woodmanben
in reply to
Jinho So
26 January 2017 22:21:48

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try tweak the face to make it look more futuristic in my sketches.

MasonTRoss
28 January 2017 02:25:08

I really liked your new front grill! I think it is a good improvement and definitely adds to the aggressive look of your design

Máté A.
28 January 2017 02:40:10

I agree, and also, I think you have a good balance between the current Corvette's proportions and those of future cars. Good luck!

Austin S
28 January 2017 06:55:46

Dude!!! Your new marker rendering is incredible! It really shows your understanding of light and how it reflects off the car. Nice work!

woodmanben
28 January 2017 17:00:52

Wow, thanks for all the compliments! I'm glad you guys like it, I'll do more of this style in the future.

Ben, check out the image posted above. I did a VERY quick overlay on your rendering. Before I speak to any of it, I'd like to start by saying your rendering is really good. It's so much easier to critique someones work, when they have something solid to begin with.

So on to the overlay....I think your design would benefit a lot from a few proportional shifts. Corvettes are all about being low and wide. you can see how I flattened your roof line a bit in this view.

I think your front wheel/tire is maybe a little too tall, so I lowered it a little bit - but mostly saw the opportunity to adjust that proportion by raising the rear shoulder and enlarging the rear wheel/tire.

Finally, I'd pull out the front driver's side corner/lamp to, again, give it more width.

These are fairly common mechanical issues that all Designers have - always easier to spot when your critiquing someone else's work with a fresh eye.

The good news is, your design is very nice, and your marker technique is coming along very, very well. Keep up the outstanding work, Ben!

woodmanben
in reply to
Steve McCabe
03 February 2017 03:15:04

Thank you for helping out the proportions. It's awesome to have someone experienced look at my work and help me improve upon it. The overlay you did makes it look even sportier and more Corvette-like, and I'll definitely use those proportions in the future.